Keepsakes
by Jun-I
Summary: After Kanna, a samurai keeps his promise by returning to the woman waiting for him. But has his heart returned with him? Shichiroji x Yukino, Shichiroji x female Heihachi. Last chapter and bonus poem up!
1. Torn

Keepsakes  
Chapter 1: Torn  
-----------------  
Author: Jun-I  
Pairing(s): Yukino/Shichiroji, Shichiroji x female Heihachi (implied at this point) 

Warnings:  
- Spoilers within. Written with the assumption that readers have already seen the anime.  
- Characters change gender. Heihachi and Kyuuzou are female.

Disclaimers: Don't own Shichiroji, Heihachi, or any of the S7 charas. For fun, not for profit.

* * *

Yukino removed the lid of the bento box that Shichiroji had brought back from Kanna. There was no food inside. What lay within was a small fair weather doll. She had seen that doll before - twice it had walked into the House of the Fireflies. But then, the doll was not as it was now, torn and stained with the dirt of the battlefield

The torn doll was not the only thing in the box. Beside it lay a lock of flame-colored hair, tied with a dark blue string. The innkeeper felt a stab of surprise, followed by a twinge of hurt.

Yukino had loved the young soldier she found in the river, but she always knew they were from different castes. Different worlds. There was a part of him that she could never reach or understand. It was probably inevitable that one day his heart would find its home with a woman from his world – the world of warriors.

The dark-haired beauty always told the samurai she laid no claim on him, that he was free to leave and love another. All these years together, Shichiroji and Yukino could have married, but they chose not to. They never even mentioned the idea to each other. But somehow, as the years passed in each other's company, Yukino had almost come to take for granted that a transient dream shared by two very different people could continue indefinitely. Now that she saw that there was indeed another woman, it pained her.

The owner of the House of the Fireflies heard a familiar step behind her. She turned to face the samurai. The blond man stared at the open box in her hands, and then he looked at her shamefaced.

"I'm sorry," Yukino said, "I did not know it was something… private. I thought the box contained food that might need to be refrigerated or tossed out."

Shichiroji looked down at the floor. The air between them was heavy with silent awkwardness.

The lady innkeeper came over to her partner and placed the box in his hands. "Was it the mechanic girl?" she asked when their eyes slowly met.

There was guilt in his eyes as he answered, "Nothing happened between me and her."

"I never bound you to me." Yukino replied. "I always said you were free to come and go as you please. My only request was that you inform me if and when you choose to leave or love another, just so that I would know where I stand in the scheme of things."

"I won't leave you." He said guiltily, "I owe you so much."

"I don't want a man to stay with me out of a sense of debt," she replied. "That would not be true love."

"You know I love you," Shichiroji said even as he turned his face away from her.

"I know. Yet it is still possible to love someone else," she smiled sadly.

"Loved." he admitted. "She is dead."

"But you love her still, or you would not have brought these keepsakes back with you," she pointed out gently.

He said nothing. But Yukino noticed the samurai shudder, just for a moment.

"Do not reproach yourself," the hotel manager said as she laid a hand on the samurai's shoulder. "The heart cannot always choose where it would go. Would Kirara have loved Kanbei if she had a choice?"

This time, Shichiroji turned to face his long time benefactor. Grief and guilt were written on the blond warrior's usually smiling features. He felt torn between two women. One living, one dead. The living one was standing right before him, then why was it that the dead one felt closer?

"I never demanded to be the only one in your heart, Shichiroji." Yukino said firmly as she looked him in the eye, "And I will not complain of having to share my lovers with others, as long as they are completely honest with me from the beginning to the end."

Then she added more gently, "Will you not tell me what happened, as a friend, at least? Perhaps you will feel better if you do."


	2. Surprises

Updated 12/1/06.

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Zan for mentioning the Shichi/Hei moments added to this chapter.

**Warnings:  
- **Spoilers within. Written with the assumption that readers have already seen the anime.  
- Characters change gender. Heihachi and Kyuuzou are female.

Disclaimers: Don't own Shichiroji, Heihachi, or any of the S7 charas. For fun, not for profit.

* * *

Shichiroji had never expected this to happen. When he first met Heihachi, he did not find her attractive at all, at least not in the way a man would find a woman attractive. The mechanic was a mannish tomboy with a coarse voice. She came across as somewhat unrestrained. When Shichiroji and Yukino first met Heihachi in the House of the Fireflies, the mechanic girl had rather inquisitively inquired after how they met. Yukino told her that she had found Shichiroji in the river, whereupon the redhead promptly nicknamed the blond Momotarou. Shichiroji had been amused by the nickname, but still, he could not help noticing how unladylike the samurai maiden was.

She seemed a little too eager to eat. "I guess I'm better at eating than I am at sword fighting," Heihachi talked through her mouthful of rice during dinner. Yukino was always one to appreciate a guest who enjoyed herself thoroughly, but Shichiroji was both amused and surprised at Heihachi's seeming lack of breeding. The somewhat mannish redhead was the only samurai to get up and dance around – and not very gracefully at that – when Yukino's musicians and dancers entertained the visitors at dinner.

"Just how did her parents raise her?" the blond man wondered. The goofy mechanic was no match for the cultured Yukino in beauty and grace. Yet Shichiroji had to admit that the two women were not entirely dissimilar. The hotel manager and the former soldier both enjoyed the company of people. Both women wanted to get along with everyone and make peace. Yukino's soothing, placating manner was an asset when it came to running a successful business in Iyashi no Sato's competitive service industry. As for Heihachi, Shichiroji had heard from Kanbei that she was the only person capable of disarming the explosive Kikuchiyo with a few well-placed, well-timed words.

The two women both liked children, but perhaps Heihachi enjoyed them even more than Yukino did. The tomboy was fun-loving and young-at-heart. Children instinctively flocked to her. Shichiroji had smiled to watch how Heihachi played with Komachi. The mechanic was so full of zest for life she enjoyed every little thing the House of the Fireflies had to offer. And she spread that joy to those around her. "How can anyone not like Heihachi?" Gorobei had said. And Shichiroji had to agree.

But Heihachi's pleasant stay at Yukino's inn came to an abrupt end when Ayamaro's enforcers attacked. The samurai escaped to the river under the house. Shichiroji got on Yukino's boat with them, leaving his weeping lover behind. "I'll return," he had told her simply.

--

The journey to the land of the Shikimori did not go smoothly. The samurai were hotly pursued by Ukyo and his henchmen. Ukyo even went as far as to fire a crossbow at Yukino's boat, injuring the child Katsushiro. Yet even these arrogant bullies had to turn back when faced with the unreadable scrutiny of the Shikimori sentinels. These strange masked people however, allowed Kanbei's party to pass safely into their realm. Like everyone else, Shichiroji had never been to the land of the Shikimori. "What have we gotten ourselves into?" the blond war veteran asked no one in particular as the monumental structures of the Shikimori people's alien technology came into sight. He felt a strange sense of unease.

"We'll know soon enough," A cheerful voice spoke behind him. It was Heihachi. There was no trace of fear in her voice. Strangely, the smiling voice of this near-stranger instantly put Shichiroji at ease.

Yet it was also the nickname given by this near-stranger that stuck to Shichiroji. "I'm NOT called Momotarou!" the blond former soldier had to correct Kikuchiyo.

--

While the samurai tended to the injured child Katsushiro in the Land of the Shikimori, the blond samurai came to learn more about the redhead's background. Thus Shichiroji became concerned about the mechanic's battle-worthiness. Like the rest of them, Heihachi was born in a samurai family and trained to use the sword since childhood. But she was an army mechanic during the war and had no actual combat experience. That meant a world of difference. Chopping wood was one thing, slicing enemy mecha was another. Could the master woodcutter handle a fast moving target that was also trying to kill her?

"About the mechanic girl," Shichiroji had said to Kanbei before they left Shikimori territory, "Should we even let her fight?"

"She'll be fine." Kanbei said, "She may not be able to handle a Raiden but a Yakan or a Mimizuku should be no problem for her. A Tobito might be pushing it, but it'll be interesting to see how she performs against one."

Shichiroji had his doubts even then. But his old commander and friend knew best, he thought. It turned out Kanbei was right. In the battle against the Nobuseri who ambushed them at the exit of the Shikimori mountain, Heihachi held her own in combat. She managed to destroy more than a few Yakans while remaining unscathed herself. Her sword work was very clean and precise, even against moving mecha.

If the mechanic had not told Shichiroji so, he would never have believed it was her first time killing. The man was very much surprised and impressed. He complimented Heihachi on her fighting skills. Her response had been modestly self-effacing.

Then the red-headed warrior praised Shichiroji's skill with the spear. "I had a younger brother who was also a spear fighter," Heihachi said, "But he was not nearly as good as you are."

"Where is your brother now?" Shichiroji asked her.

"I said I _had _a brother. He died in battle during the Great War." Heihachi replied in a rather matter-of-fact tone. But Shichiroji thought he heard her voice choke towards the end of her speech.

"I'm sorry," the male samurai said awkwardly.

"How stupid and insensitive of me to ask that question," Shichiroji thought, "I should have noticed she spoke in the past tense when she mentioned her brother the first time."

But Heihachi's battle prowess was not the only surprise she had in store for Shichiroji that day. When the traitor Honoka was exposed, the female samurai flew into a blind rage that Shichiroji never thought the polite, solicitous, peace-loving girl was capable of. She lifted her sword to kill the other woman.

It took the combined intervention of Rikichi, Gorobei, Kanbei and the Shikimori people to stay Heihachi's hand. But even so, the samurai mechanic still remained angry for a long time after. Shichiroji too had not been pleased with the traitor, but still, he could not understand Heihachi's sudden and deep-seated anger.

Yet that was not the last time Shichiroji would witness Heihachi's uncharacteristic rage.


	3. Traitor Revealed

**_Acknowledgements:_** Thanks to zan for pointing out more Hei/Shichi moments from canon. :-)

**Warnings:  
- **Spoilers within. Written with the assumption that readers have already seen the anime.  
- Characters change gender. Heihachi and Kyuuzou are female.

**Disclaimers:  
- **Don't own Shichiroji, Heihachi, or any of the S7 charas. For fun, not for profit.  
- Opinions expressed by characters do not necessarily reflect author's opinions.

* * *

The samurai arrived safely in Kanna. Kanbei put them to work the very next morning. Heihachi given the duty of constructing weapons. The mechanic maiden gathered some of the older village women together and taught them to make cross-bows. The cross-bow assembly team was working together quite smoothly when an old matron quite unexpectedly asked Heihachi, "Miss, are you married yet?"

"I suggest we work with our hands, and not with our mouths," the young woman said rather abruptly. Heihachi did not like speaking of such matters. She had never considered the possibility of romance or marriage. Life for a samurai was so short and brutal there was no time to think of softer things. Besides, she had never met the special man she would like to marry.

At that moment, as if on cue, Komachi and Okara ran up to the hut in which the older women were sitting. "Heihachi-dono, Momotaro sends for you."

"Momotaro?" Heihachi smiled as she wondered how a nickname she had so casually given had stuck to this man.

--

It turned out that there was an abandoned battleship in the forest outside the village. When Heihachi arrived at the scene, Kanbei and Kikuchiyo were already there, pondering the sight. Shichiroji said Okara and Komachi showed the battleship to him. The ship was made with old technology, probably from a generation or two back.

"I was wondering if you could make a giant bow out of the scrap metal," the blond aide said to Heihachi. The samurai maiden climbed into the wreckage and surveyed it. After a while, she emerged and said to Kanbei and Shichiroji, "I think I can do it."

Kikuchiyo, who was sitting some distance away on a tree branch, said in an irritated tone, "There you guys go again, leaving me out of the discussion."

"Kikuchiyo…" Heihachi said in what sounded like an annoyed voice.

"Whatever," the robot replied in a huff.

"I would like to borrow your great strength for this project," the maiden smiled at Kikuchiyo suddenly.

Caught by surprise by the tomboy's unexpected compliment, the robot beamed, "Well, of course, my lady," he said in a pleased voice. "I am at your service."

Kanbei and Shichiroji exchanged meaningful looks. They were sharing the same thought. Heihachi was a priceless young lady. She had accomplished the feat of taming the stubborn ox again, like no one else could.

--

Yet Shichiroji would see another side of Heihachi that very same night. The samurai and peasants were working late into the evening. Kyuuzou was still training the archers under the light of a dozen torches. And Rikichi and his cohorts were still working on cutting logs for the village's fortification. Shichiroji was directing the logging operation when he heard someone screaming desperately, "Have mercy, honorable samurai! Have mercy!"

Both Rikichi and Shichiroji turned in the direction of the sound. Heihachi was dragging Manzou up the forest road. Manzou's daughter Shino was following them, pleading with the samurai woman. Heihachi ignored her. The female samurai also ignored Shichiroji as she strode past him towards the village, holding the terrified peasant by the neck and pushing him forward.

Shichiroji noted that the mechanic's usually squinted eyes were now wide open. They were beautiful dark eyes – large and liquid. Yet the look in them was cold and steely. For the first time, the male samurai realized that the tomboy could be beautiful, and yet simultaneously frightening. This was a Heihachi he had never seen before.

Everyone, peasant and samurai, abandoned their work and followed after the angry mechanic as she strode into the village square and dumped Manzou before the headman. "This person betrayed us to the Nobuseri." She declared coldly.

Rikichi rushed forward and grabbed the older peasant by the collar. "Why did you do this?" the young man demanded angrily. The other peasants also murmured against the traitor. "Didn't we all agree to hire the samurai?"

"But I didn't agree to it!" The white-faced farmer shrieked. "What difference does it make? Samurai or bandits. They are all people with swords who oppress us!"

"But the samurai have come here to save our village!" Rikichi replied indignantly. "They already saved our lives a few times while we were in the city!"

"They are going to destroy the bridge and demolish the homes on the other side!" Manzou whined.

At this revelation, the peasants reacted with alarm. "Sacrifice the houses on the other side of the bridge?" "Is this true?" The crowd clamored at the samurai present – Gorobei, Shichiroji, Kyuuzou and Heihachi.

Shichiroji spoke first. "To prepare for the battle with the Nobuseri, we have no other choice."

The audience apparently did not find his explanation satisfactory. The murmurs grew louder. Rikichi came to offer his support. "I know the concerns that people have about this!" the young peasant declared, "But understand that the samurai have their reasons!"

Manzou, however, was not about to stop. "I don't understand!" he bawled. "To force me to abandon my ancestral farm is to take my life! In this case, how are the samurai different from the bandits?"

Mosuke and Yohei stepped forward to voice their agreement with Manzou. "We have made a mistake in hiring the samurai. Once the Nobuseri find out, they will exterminate the entire village! Rikichi, you of all people should know what it is like to lose something dear to the bandits!"

At these words, the samurai's only ally fell silent.

Then Heihachi spoke coldly, looking down at Manzou. "So you went over to the Nobuseri to preserve your own life, right?" The samurai woman moved her hand to her sword. A collective gasp rose from the onlookers.

"Heihachi-dono!" Shichiroj interjected. "How are we going to conduct a campaign like this? Let's wait for Kanbei to decide the case."

"That person is too forgiving," Heihachi said, looking away from Shichiroji into the distance, as if remembering something long ago and faraway. "But we cannot afford to be! A proven traitor may betray us again!"

"But…" Shichiroji began to speak.

Heihachi cut him off. "This is war, isn't it? During wartime, traitors were executed without delay!"

The other samurai woman Kyuuzou spoke up in agreement. "Indeed it was so."

Shino and Manzou cried out in horror. Shichiroji inwardly cursed the unforgiving and vindictive nature of women.

The mechanic samurai moved her hand to her shoulder to draw the sword on her back. The blond warrior quickly stepped forward and seized Heihachi's sword hand, preventing her from drawing. His arm weighed down on her shoulder. They glared at each other while she strained against him.

Kanbei had arrived on the scene but Shichiroji and Heihachi were too caught up in their personal confrontation to notice the presence of their leader. The female samurai was still trying to pull her sword out of its sheath, and the male samurai's fingers were still wrapped rightly around her right wrist, stopping her from raising her arm.

Just then Kikuchiyo ran into the village, shouting. "Out of my way! Out of my way!"

Peasants scattered left and right in alarm as the mecha came to a stop before Shichiroji and Heihachi. He struck his giant sword into the ground. A cloud of dust flew into the air. Shichiroji released Heihachi as they both turned to stare at Kikuchiyo in surprise.

"I knew it would turn out like this!" the robot shouted. He turned to the peasants, "You people only know how to gather together to whine and worry!"

"And you," he strode up to Kanbei and Gorobei, "Sit around judging. Why not just hand down a death penalty while you're at it?"

Kikuchiyo turned to Shichiroji and pointed right at his forehead. "You people do not understand peasants at all!" The blond remained surprisingly unperturbed.

Then the robot addressed Heihachi in his booming voice. "If you kill Manzou, you'll have to deal with me!"

"WHAT are you talking about?" The samurai maiden snapped angrily. She did not share Shichiroji's nonchalance.

"Do I have to state the obvious?" Kikuchiyo pointed an oversized finger at Heihachi's petite nose. "If you don't believe me, ask the peasants. None of them will fault Manzo for his act."

"Farmers are cunning, cowardly and selfish!" The mecha declared, "But who made them the way they are? It is you! Samurai! Your battles destroy their villages. You devastate their fields and pillage their food. No wonder they had to be cunning! So I don't have it in me to be angry at Manzo. Between the Nobuseri and the samurai, he chose what he thought was the lesser of two evils!"

Then the robot sat down and wept. At this moment, Kanbei stepped forward and asked, "Kikuchiyo, were you a peasant?"

Oh, it was so obvious. Why she did not see it? Heihachi cast her eyes to the ground, shame-faced.

--

The 'crisis' was over, at least for the moment. Kanbei granted Manzou a pardon, and all the peasants and samurai returned to the work they were doing before.

Shichiroji stifled a yawn as the night grew deep. The aide made the rounds of the various work teams, taking note of their progress. As he approached Heihachi's weapons construction team, he saw the redheaded samurai maiden sitting astride the giant bow. Heihachi was fully focused on her work, tightening the rivets with her spanner.

"Are you still up?" he asked her kindly.

"I don't have time for that," she said as she raised her head from her work and gave him a sheepish smile. "It was all because of me that the work came to a halt just now."

"Please don't think so," Shichiroji reassured the warrior woman.

"But Kanbei-sama never ceases to surprise me," the mechanic maiden remarked, "whether it is the way he handled this matter or how he the matter of Honoka. I could never bring myself to be as magnanimous as he is."

Shichiroji's face took on a graver expression as he replied, "Indeed, the most fearful thing in war is not the enemy but a spy in our midst."

Heihachi's smile faded as she looked away.

"Let me help you," Shichiroji said as he picked up the box of rivets lying next to him and brought it over to Heihachi.

"Why does Kanbei trust others so much?" Heihachi asked as she gazed into the distance. Shichiroji looked up at her oval face. The samurai woman was not so much speaking to him but to herself. The samurai man was somewhat surprised to see the look of vague sorrow that had come over the maiden's usually smiling features.

"Perhaps it is because he has lost so many battles," the blond replied in a tone of comic resignation. The aide tapped himself on the head with the spanner. "At least that's what I think."

Looking at Shichiroji's smiling face, Heihachi herself smiled once more.

--

Shichiroji, Gorobei and Katsushiro returned to Rikichi's house to report his progress check to Kanbei. The leader was bent over a map of Kanna, pondering their defense strategy. The three silently took their seat next to him. When Kanbei raised eyes to Shichiroji, the younger man instantly launched into his report.

"We have prepared 20 missiles as instructed."

Gorobei added, "The stone wall should be near completion by now."

"How is the progress of Heihachi's team?" Kanbei asked.

"It is at about 90 percent completion. They should be done anytime," Katsushiro said.

"Is that so?" Kanbei remarked.

"Heihachi is working without rest or sleep," Shichiroji spoke up, "I fear that she may soon suffer from exhaustion."

"I will speak to her about this when I have the chance," Kanbei said gravely.


	4. Unintentional Intrusion

Keepsakes  
Chapter 4: Unintentional Intrusion  
--------------------------------------  
Author: Jun-I

Warnings:  
-Spoilers within. Written with the assumption that readers have already seen the anime.  
-Characters change gender. Heihachi and Kyuuzou are female.

Disclaimers:  
- Don't own Shichiroji, Heihachi, or any of the S7 charas. For fun, not for profit.  
- Opinions expressed by characters do not necessarily reflect author's opinions.

* * *

Shichiroji got up very early the next morning. He wanted to use the public bathhouse before anyone else got there. The aide had been so busy since they came to Kanna, he had not taken a bath yet. But after all the drama and stress of the previous night, Shichiroji thought he deserved to pamper himself with a small luxury.

When he arrived outside the bathhouse, he listened for the sound of voices or splashing water. There was only silence. No one was in there. The samurai stepped boldly in. Then he froze.

Heihachi was sitting in the tub. Her back was to him and her arm was raised. The mechanic was in the middle of examining the angry dark bruises on her right wrist and hand. His finger marks.

Shichiroji immediately threw his hand over his eyes. "I'm so sorry!" he said.

The other samurai turned at the sound of his voice, but not fully. All Shichiroji could see through the gap in his fingers were Heihachi's bare back, her soft profile and her wet, glistening red hair.

"Don't worry about the bruises. I'm fine," she answered.

"I mean, I'm sorry for intruding," he said awkwardly. He removed his hand from before his eyes but quickly redirected his gaze to the floor.

The flame-haired samurai raised her eyebrows.

"And I'm sorry about the bruises too," Shichiroji added as he blushed. "I did not know I was gripping you so hard. I did not mean to hurt you."

"It's all right," she said kindly, "I bruise easily, that's all. I know you did not mean it."

There was a moment of awkward silence as the woman waited for Shichiroji to leave the room but he did not. The handsome blond just stood staring at the ground, as if he did not know what to do next.

"Are you waiting to use the bath house?" Heihachi finally asked, "I'll be done in a few minutes, if you could wait till then."

"Er... yes, of course. I apologize for the intrusion." Shichiroji stammered. Then he turned quickly and made his way outside.

* * *

He did not know whether is was their confrontation in the village square or their unexpected meeting in the bath house that caused them to cross the line from mere acquaintances into friends. They were never particularly interested in each other's company before.

Heihachi was somewhat embarrassed by her public outburst that came to naught, and Shichiroji still felt awkward about his foolish behavior in the bath house. Each would have liked to explain things more fully to the other, but neither knew the other well enough to do so. So, without realizing it, the two samurai made the decision to try to know each other better.

Sometimes, the aide and the mechanic took their lunch breaks together, sharing a few rice balls and a good conversation. Pretty soon, the blond and the redhead came to enjoy each other's company. For Heihachi, it was not difficult to like Shichiroji. No woman could look upon the charming young man without at least a small degree of favor. The handsome blond was kind, considerate, and ever the peacemaker. As for Shichiroji, he had always liked hanging around the cheery tomboy . Yet he could never remember the exact moment when he started seeing her as a nubile young woman instead of a chummy 'male' comrade.


	5. Battle in the Base

Keepsakes  
Chapter 5: Battle in the Base  
-----------------------------------  
Author: Jun-I

Warnings:  
-Spoilers within. Written with the assumption that readers have already seen the anime.  
- Characters change gender. Heihachi and Kyuuzou are female.

* * *

The villagers had successfully repelled the first assault of the Nobuseri. As the last of the Yakans crashed into the chasm below, Kanbei put the second phase of their plan into action – infiltration. Heihachi and Shichiroji were packed into rice containers, followed by Kanbei and Kikuchiyo. The villagers placed the containers in the midst of more containers filled to the core with real rice. Then they waited for the Nobuseri's arrival.

Nearly smothered by rice, Shichiroji listened to Rikichi address the giant mecha outside, pleading for mercy and offering rice as an atonement. "We will take the rice, and then destroy you anyway." The Nobuseri leader declared angrily as the giant robots began packing the rice containers away. Now moving through the air in the claws of the Raiden, Shichiroji felt as if their plans were up in the air as well! What if they failed to storm the base before the Nobuseri incinerate the village? With his heart in his mouth, he counted each minute before they were transferred out of the Raiden and securely settled in the storehouse of the floating base.

Once he heard Kanbei's sword slicing through the rice bag, Shichiroji immediately cut his own way out of his uncomfortable constraints. The young man emerged from the rice to see Heihachi crawling out of her rice container.

"Oh, I feel as if I had turned into rice," Heihachi said to the blond in a cheery voice. Shichiroji was amazed at how she could always bring a note of humor to even the most dire situation. He grinned back. "A rice-lover like you would probably be hard put to restrain herself."

"A scary thought, isn't it?" she replied smilingly, "You're a sharp one, my friend. Oh, how I wish we could finish this job quickly so that we can eat a lot of rice!"

Kanbei interrupted, "Heihachi! Go to the engine room."

"Yes sir," the samurai maiden replied.

The samurai hacked a path out of the store room, clearing the way for Heihachi. Shichiroji cast one last look at the woman warrior as she ran through a side door. Then he turned and followed Kanbei back into battle.

-------

The three samurai finally fought their way into the control room where the Nobuseri leader was holding Kirara captive. Katsushiro, Kyuuzou and Gorobei joined them as they battled more Yakans, Mimizukus and Raidens. Shichiroji shielded Kanbei from the Red Spider's cannon, and then helped Kyuuzou finish a Raiden off. Moments later, he felt the ship rock and shudder. It must have crashed into the mountainside. Heihachi had succeeded in disabling the engine room. "Where is she?" the blond wondered, but his attention was quickly brought back to the present when Kanbei stuck his sword into the Red Spider's cannon. Both human and mecha warrior were thrown aside in the resulting explosion.

Just then, Heihachi broke in through a trap door, shouting, "Everyone, hurry!"

A loud explosion rocked the ship, throwing violently her to the ground. The mechanic maiden gasped with pain. "Hei-san!" Shichiroji called out as he instinctively reached towards her.

"The ship is going to crash!" Heihachi shouted. Shichiroji's immediate impulse was to rush to her side, but before he could act on it, Kanbei shouted, "Shichiroji, find a way out!"

The blond cast one more glance at Heihachi and saw that she was already scrambling to her feet. Then he turned and dashed to an open window. Peering out, he saw that the ship had come to rest against the mountain face, but the gap between the ship and the nearest rock ledge was too wide to be crossed by a human. Shichiroji scanned his surroundings quickly. There was a tree nearby. He shot a metal cable out from his mechanized arm, pulling the large trunk down to the ship.

Kyuuzou and Gorobei led the way out on this makeshift log bridge, followed by the two youngsters. Next came Heihachi. Once Shichiroji saw that she made it safely over, he turned and called out to Kikuchiyo. "Hold on to the log!"

Kanbei was still within, covering their retreat as he stood between his team and the Nobuseri leader. "Kanbei-sama!" Shichiroji shouted. The dark man turned and ran towards the door when he heard Shichiroji's voice. He leapt over Kikuchiyo's head and dashed across the log to the mountain face.

Heihachi was already climbing up the mountain after Katsushiro and Kirara. She looked down and saw that Shichiroji and Kikuchiyo were still holding the bridge below. To her relief, Kanbei had made it safely out. Now Kikuchiyo and Shichiroji were following him but before the two could clear the bridge, there was a loud explosion. The floating base fell away as smoke engulfed the mountain side. The samurai maiden gasped. "Shichiroji!" She did not allow herself to call his name but the anguished thought echoed through her mind.

The moments passed interminably until the smoke cleared. Heihachi looked down once more and saw that Kikuchiyo had managed to find a foothold on the mountain face. Shichiroji's familiar purple coat was fluttering below, hanging from Kikuchiyo's hand. Heihachi breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the blond was still in his coat. He did not look very comfortable dangling over the chasm, but he was very much alive.

With an overwhelming sense of thankfulness, the mechanic maiden turned and followed the other samurai as they made their way carefully up to a wider ledge halfway up the mountain.

------------------

Black smoke billowed from the chasm below. The samurai were contemplating their next move when they heard a whistling sound underneath. Katsushiro looked down and saw a pink disc fly up towards them. "Tobito!" he barely managed to call out before the disc split into two Jumping Rabbits and attacked them. Katsushiro faced one. Together, Heihachi and Shichiroji rushed at the other Tobito without hesitation. It was Heihachi's first time fighting a Tobito, but somehow, with Shichiroji at her side, she felt no fear. But the mecha eluded both of them and headed right towards Kikuchiyo. The robot struck at it, but his sword went wide and he was knocked to the ground. "Kikuchiyo-dono!" Heihachi called out. Then, teaming up with Shichiroji, she cornered the monster and continued the battle. Heihachi cut open a Yakan which was sneaking up behind her comrade while Shichiroji finished off the Tobito.

At long last, all of their mecha attackers had been put out of commission. Kikuchiyo sent the last Yakan flying over the edge only to be hit by a gunshot from below. Heihachi dropped to the ground as she saw Kikuchiyo take cover. "What do we do now?" Shichiroji asked Kanbei.

"We need a scout." The leader said.

"Leave it to me," volunteered Kikuchiyo.

"No, you're too eye-catching." Kanbei flatly turned him down.

"Do you have to be so blunt about it?" Kikuchiyo spouted steam.

Then Katsushiro said, "I'll go."

It was then the quiet lady in red finally spoke up. "You'll die," she stated matter-of-factly. Then she got up and walked to the edge.

Kanbei looked up at her, frowning slightly. She gave him a small smile as they held each other's gaze for a moment. Then she left without a backward glance at him, jumping off the ledge to hop lightly down the mountain face.


	6. Treason Remembered

Keepsakes  
Chapter 6: Treason Remembered  
---------------------------------------  
Author: Jun-I

Warnings:  
-Spoilers within. Written with the assumption that readers have already seen the anime.  
- Characters change gender. Heihachi and Kyuuzou are female.

* * *

Kanbei came up with a public relations idea after they returned to the village. The commander said the samurai should eat what the peasants eat. That meant that they had to eat the grass-and-grain porridge that passed for food in the impoverished village. It was marketed under the attractive name of "rice with fireflies" but Shichiroji could not help making a face when he tried a mouthful of it at Kirara's house.

Nevertheless Kanbei insisted they should take this "rice with fireflies" to the other samurai. So the aide obediently carried a tray with a couple of bowls to the cliff side barricade where Heihachi and Katsushiro were standing.

As Kanbei and Shichiroji approached the two samurai from above, they heard Heihachi speaking.

"… Like you, I've never killed before this mission. But I've been on battlefields before. It was like returning to a place I've known. Therefore, unlike you, I was calm and collected…"

"But, Heihachi-dono, you were very agitated over the incidents of Honoka and Manzou." Katsushiro's voice drifted up from below.

Shichiroji and Kanbei looked down from where they stood. The mechanic was standing below with Katsushiro in the company of three peasants.

"A betrayal leaves very deep scars. It should not be done no matter the reason," the female warrior put her hand on her heart. "Here, I still hold the pain from that time. Treason is inexcusable."

Then Heihachi raised her head and saw her leader and Shichiroji. She gave a start. "How long have you been here?" the mechanic asked, embarrassed.

Shichiroji answered her. "From around the time you were saying it was like returning to a place you have known."

Heihachi felt awkward. But Shichiroji acted as if nothing had happened. Together with Kanbei, he descended the hillside and presented the woman and the child with two bowls of 'rice with fireflies.'

But before they could eat it, they heard something climbing up the cliff. All the peasants and samurai present immediately put their hands to their weapons. All except for Kanbei. "Don't do anything yet!" he warned. Then he crouched down and peered over the barricade. "It's only one," Shichiroji whispered, clutching his staff tightly. Kanbei said, "I know."

Then the source of the noise came into sight. It was Kyuuzou returning from her scouting mission. "How did Kanbei know the thing climbing up the cliff was not a threat?" Shichiroji wondered. "Did he know it was Kyuuzou before he saw her?"

Then, on thinking about it, he realized his commander and the red samurai had a special connection from the start, despite her repeated claims that she had no love for him. It was almost as if they could unfailingly sense each other's presence.

---------

Shichiroji came to seek out Heihachi later that night, after Kanbei had finalized their battle plans for the next day. The mechanic had just ended her sentry shift when the aide found her.

Heihachi bade the replacement sentry Yohei a good night. She climbed down from the watchtower to find Shichiroji waiting for her. The mechanic glanced at the aide awkwardly, thinking of how Shichiroji and Kanbei had overheard her conversation with Katsushiro earlier that day.  
Shichiroji however, launched right into business. He briefed the female samurai on their battle strategy as they walked back to their lodgings together. "Any questions?" he asked after he finished the briefing.

"No," she replied. "You made things quite clear."

She said no more after that. The blond man walked with her in silence for a while, until they came to the door of Rikichi's barn. Then he said, "Kanbei and I did not mean to eavesdrop on you. We stood there for a while before you saw us because we did not want to interrupt your conversation."

"Well, I guess if something is public enough for three peasants and Katsushiro to know, it should be public enough for you two to know," she shrugged. "But still, I wish I had known you were there."

"Would you have kept your silence if you knew we were there?" he asked.

"I might have been more cautious. I don't want Kanbei-sama to have concerns about my loyalty," the woman samurai said, "But from you, I will withhold nothing."

They stepped into the barn they used as a makeshift bedchamber. No one was there. Gorobei they just saw a while ago. The tall man and Rikichi were engaged in deep conversation in the house – probably on the topic of Sanae. Katsushiro and Kikuchiyo were on sentry duty. Kanbei had gone out to brief Kyuuzou, who spent her nights in the forest. He would probably be gone for a while.

The mechanic sat down and patted the floor next to her. Shichiroji sat down beside her. "I will tell you the story of a traitor," she said to him. "If I don't tell it tonight, I might not be alive to tell it tomorrow."

Shichiroji fixed his blue eyes on her attentively. He was all ears. She took a deep breath and began. "During the Great War, the women of my clan served as support troops and the men as combat troops. In the last year of the war, a detachment of men from my clan set out on a mission to intercept a company of enemy samurai who had just penetrated our borders. A dozen female samurai went with them as logistics officers and mechanics. I was among them. We set up camp and the men, including my brother Yasuhiko, moved ahead to set up an ambush for the enemy at the Iga crossing. The samurai women, including myself, were left at the camp to guard the supplies."

"Then a party of enemy samurai found us. We fought back although we were outnumbered. One by one, the samurai women fell until there were only myself and another two left standing. I did not managed to kill anyone before I was disarmed and overpowered – I was a much poorer fighter then."

"They forced the three of us to our knees and put their swords against our necks. They asked us where our men were. None of us breathed a word. Then they said they would violate us and then take us back to serve as comfort women. By now I was shaking uncontrollably. I felt sick. Very sick. Still, the three of us said nothing."

Shichiroji took the female samurai's hand and squeezed it lightly. By now he too was feeling rather sick.

Heihachi continued her story, "Suddenly, they jerked me to my feet and dragged me before their commander. I thought that I would be the first of us three to suffer the torment and humiliation they promised us. My knees had gone soft and I could barely stand. But instead, the enemy commander addressed me alone. He pointed at the other two women and said that none of us would be violated if I spoke. But if I did not, then his men will rape my friends before my eyes before taking them away to a fate worse than death."

The young male samurai closed his eyes. This was the ugly side of war he did not like to think about. His domain was the sky, where battle was a simple, binary matter of life and death. For those who fought on land, however, there were many different kinds of death to choose from. Shichiroji would rather not have to choose any of them.

Heihachi kept on speaking. "My teeth chattered. My two friends looked up at me. One of them shook her head. The other looked at me beseechingly. I did not know what to do. I knew the enemy was probably lying. Even if I told them what they wanted to know, they would still do their worst to us. But there was just a small glimmer of hope that they might honor their words. I decided I could not bear that these women would suffer a fate worse than death because of me. So, being the fool that I was, I told the enemy what they wanted to know."

Shichiroji felt himself shudder. The female samurai went on.

"The enemy commander was true to his word. His men did not defile me or my two friends. They simply beheaded the two kneeling women on the spot. Then the enemy samurai laughed at me and left. I wondered why they did not kill me. I wish they did. The cruelest thing they did was to let me live. I had never felt so powerless. I felt like dying there, next to the other two women."

Heihachi's voice was beginning to shake.

"Then I realized that it was not out of the kindness of their hearts that the enemy decided to grant my friends death instead of degradation, as preferable as death might be. It was because they did not have the time to play with us. Their pressing mission was to find the location of the ambush. My younger brother was there."

The mechanic continued her story in a quick, staccato rhythm, as if she was eager to get to the end of it.

"I had to find the men of my clan immediately. Maybe I could still warn them. But I was too late. By the time I found them, they were all dead. Down to the last man. No one was taken captive. They all fought to the death. Yasuhiko among them. A peasant who had seen the battle told me that my brother, the youngest samurai, was the last one standing. The enemy had marveled at his bravery and cried out that they should take him alive. But Yasuhiko would not allow it. When they finally wrested his spear out of his hands, he stuck his dagger into his gut and lay down flat on his belly to make sure that he would die. I had betrayed my own brother to his death."

Then her tears began to fall. Shichiroji silently offered Heihachi his pink sash to wipe away her tears. She took it gratefully but quickly regained her composure and stopped her tears.

"Thank you," the flame-haired maiden said, "All these years I never told anybody. After committing treason, I was too ashamed to return to my clan. Even more, I could not face my widowed mother and tell her that her son died because of my treachery. I have been wandering alone ever since."

The blond samurai rubbed Heihachi's shoulder soothingly.

"My mother probably thinks I am dead. It is just as well," the mechanic said. "Some days I wish I am dead too. I tried to save my friends, but I failed. In vain I had sold my brother's life and the lives of my comrades! I should have died with them. But I'm a coward. I keep clinging to life. In fact, I have been honing my sword skills every day since that day. Next time, I won't be taken alive by an enemy. If Heaven will have mercy on me, I will die fighting!"

Her tone was firm and resolute as she said the last two sentences, so Shichiroji was not quite expecting it when all of a sudden, she laid her head on his shoulder and started crying again. This time, it was great, heaving sobs. The fair-haired young man could feel her tears seep through the fabric of his shirt. Hesitantly, the aide put his arms around the tomboy samurai and drew her into a comforting embrace. After a few moments, her weeping subsided.

"I'm sorry, I'm such a disgrace, am I not?" Heihachi said, looking away from the other samurai so that he could not see her swollen eyes, "A samurai should not break down like this."

"You don't have to feel shame around me," Shichiroji reassured her. "We samurai are only human. Do we not feel grief as peasants and merchants do?"

"I feel safe talking to you," Heihachi said, "You're not like me. You do not judge others."

"You're too hard on yourself," Shichiroji responded as he squeezed her hand comfortingly. "You were forced to make a choice – to sell the safety of your men for the dignity of your women. I am not sure how I would have chosen if I were in your place. Kanna Village had to make a similar choice too – they traded the body of Rikichi's wife for the welfare of the village."

Then the young man declared passionately as he looked into her eyes, "But the past is over! No one should have to make such choices again! You and I - and the others - together we will deliver this village from the enemy. Then the safety of women will no longer have to be bought with the lives of men, and the welfare of men will no longer need to be insured with the bodies of women! We can change things! I am sure of it!"

Actually the blond samurai was not so sure if they could change things. But he had to believe it, for Heihachi's sake. The shorter samurai looked back at him with bright shining eyes. She wanted to believe him. She needed to.

* * *

Author's Comment:  
Yasuhiko's death scene was inspired by the account of the last stand and suicide of a daimyo's page. (Can't remember the name and era though.) 


	7. Comrades

Keepsakes  
Chapter 7: Comrades  
-------------------------  
Author: Jun-I

Warnings:  
-Spoilers within. Written with the assumption that readers have already seen the anime.  
- Characters change gender. Heihachi and Kyuuzou are female.

Note: The meaningful looks the Shichiroji gave Heihachi and Kanbei gave Kyuuzou were really there in canon. Watch the scene in the anime carefully. ;-)

* * *

The Nobuseri attacked the next day as Kyuuzou had predicted. They came under the cover of the storm. Shichiroji guessed rightly that some of them were coming up the waterfall, the sound of their approach drowned out by the cascading torrents.

The aide found himself fighting alongside his commander in the village, trying to repel waves of Mimizukus and Yakans. They were soon joined by Gorobei and Kyuuzou. Shichiroji wondered briefly how Heihachi's weapons team was doing, but he had no time to think much of anything except his own survival. A Raiden came towards the samurai and farmers. Kyuuzou ran at it, but found her progress impeded by the Mimizukus crowding her. For a while, it looked as if the samurai woman was in danger of being a target for the Raiden's cannon. Fortunately, Katsushiro launched a sneak attack on the giant robot and cut it off at the waist.

All the mecha in the Nobuseri's vanguard force had fallen at last. As Shichiroji stood by Kanbei in a brief moment of respite, he saw Heihachi staggering into the village square. A bloody bandage was wrapped around her ribs. Immediately, the blond ran up to her. "Hei-san, are you alright?"

The samurai maiden lifted her goggles and winked at Shichiroji. "I'd really like to eat some rice…" she said cheerfully even as she ignored her pain and put on a smile to set her friend at ease.

Shichiroji smiled despite himself as Heihachi turned from him to look up at the rainy sky. He did not know when it was that he started to smile at her smiles. She had a priceless way of putting a happy note into a bad situation. That was one thing he loved about the redheaded warrior woman.

"This rain is indeed a problem," The mechanic maiden remarked, "It is an impediment to our actions."

"Yes, indeed," Shichiroji replied. An almost tender look crossed his face as he gazed at her back but he instantly replaced it with a serious expression when Heihachi turned back towards him and Kanbei.

"Are there any more Nobuseri?" the warrior maiden asked.

"There's one Red Spider left," Kanbei answered gravely.

"They're coming!" Shichiroji said in a low voice when they heard the distant patter of metal feet. He grabbed his spear as Heihachi drew her sword at the same time.

Then Kikuchiyo came into sight, being dragged on the ground by two Tobito. He broke free of them just as Shichiroji heard the blast of a cannon. But the shot missed the robot, who instantly ran for cover. The three human samurai also took cover behind a farmhouse.

"Kanbei-sama, is that the Red Spider?" Shichiroji whispered to his leader.

"It should have seen us by now." The dark man replied. Then he looked sideways. Shichiroji followed the direction of his friend's gaze to see the red-clad samurai running into the village square. She too, immediately took cover next to a farmhouse.

"It's Kyuuzou…" Shichiroji remarked. An almost gentle expression came into Kanbei's eyes for a brief moment, then the two samurai men turned their attention back to the approaching threat.

Behind a wood pile, Heihachi watched the Red Spider approach, flanked by Yakans. "What are you doing?" she cried out as Kikuchiyo out ran into the open. The mecha replied, "It's too big to be cut with a sword!" He grabbed a flaming log from a burning farmhouse and smashed it across three Yakans. The four human samurai rushed forward to engage the Tea Kettles. Due to her injuries, Heihachi was not as mobile as she usually was. A Yakan knocked the sword out of her hand, throwing the mechanic against the wall of a house. As the metal monster raised its giant cleaver over the samurai maiden, Heihachi thought that maybe this was the end of her life. At that moment, Shichiroji rushed in front of her. He stuck his spear through the Nobuseri's eye and flung it away from the woman.

Heihachi fixed her gaze on her rescuer. It had been a long time since she had felt protected. The two samurai turned their attention back to the Red Spider. With growing alarm, they saw it raise its cannon and aim it at their leader. It was that moment Katushiro and Gorobei ran into the village square. The child flung a spear into the creature's arm just as it fired at Kanbei. At the same time, the silver-haired man with the formidable reflexes rushed and intercepted the volley with his sword. Kanbei was saved, but Gorobei was injured in the resulting explosion.

"Gorobei-dono!" Katsushiro cried out as he ran over to kneel beside the dark man. Blood seeped through the war veteran's clothes. "You cursed Nobuseri!" the child cried as he turned towards the monster who had injured his friend. Katsushiro would have rushed at the thing but Kanbei put a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"All of you stay out of this," the dark commander said as he strode forward alone to challenge the metal monster.

---------

The battle was finally over. The last Red Spider had been slain by Kanbei and the peasants. But it was too late for Gorobei. The peasants and samurai gathered around the fallen warrior. Heihachi knelt beside her erstwhile traveling companion as he closed his eyes for the last time. As the peasants wept, the samurai maiden did not know if it was tears or raindrops running down her own face.

"Shichiroji," Kanbei spoke quietly, "I'm leaving the funeral arrangements to you." Then the dark man turned and walked away without another word.

As the blond approached the corpse of his comrade, Heihachi looked up at him with sad black eyes. "Let me help you," she said. Shichiroji nodded wordlessly as they silently covered Gorobei's face.


	8. Sparring Partner

Keepsakes  
Chapter 8: Sparring Partner  
--------------------------------  
Author: Jun-I

Warnings:  
-Spoilers within. Written with the assumption that readers have already seen the anime.  
- Characters change gender. Heihachi and Kyuuzou are female.

* * *

It was some days after Kanbei left Kanna for the capital. Heihachi's battle wound had finally healed. The samurai maiden rose early that morning and went alone to her favorite clearing in the forest. She had been missing her daily sword practice for a while.

Without much ado, the mechanic launched into her sword forms. It was not long before she heard approaching footsteps.

"Nice spot for a morning workout," the new arrival said as he eyed the daisies blooming in the clearing.

"So, it is." she answered amiably.

"Shadow fighting does not come close to real combat," Shichiroji continued.

"I have to make do with whatever I have," the other samurai replied.

"Can I be of service to you?" the blond smiled as he twirled the stick in his hand.

Heihachi grinned as she turned to face him. With a quick flick, the other warrior's stick extended into a 3-pronged spear. Then he attacked. The mechanic parried with her sword. After a few rounds, she found herself still on the defensive. She couldn't come close enough to use her sword against the other samurai.

"Curse those long weapons!" she muttered to herself.

"Not easy for short weapons to work against longer weapons, is it?" Shichiroji said. "You have to find a way to pass my slashing range. I will be vulnerable once you're within close quarters."

The smaller warrior dodged a few jabs from the spear. Then, as Shichiroji swung the spear in a slashing motion, Heihachi shifted just enough to let the spear head miss her midriff before rushing in to corner the other samurai. In a flash, she was at Shichiroji's side. She grabbed his wrist with her free hand and then brought the blunt edge of her sword down against his elbow joint, dropping him to his hands and knees. Heihachi started cranking the male samurai's wrist joint to force him to release his hold on his weapon, but nothing happened. Then she realized with chagrin she was trying to twist a metal wrist.

"Nope, submission techniques would not work against mechanized warriors," he said. "Try something else."

"Something else?" she retorted. "If this is for real, I would not be trying to force you into submission; I would have simply sliced your arm off earlier."

Then the redhead stopped, shocked at what she had just said. Shichiroji had already lost an arm. "What an insensitive thing to say!" Heihachi chided herself as she stared down at the mechanized arm she was holding.

But if Shichiroji was offended, he did not say so. He pushed back against her, trying to get back up on his feet. Heihachi was too clever though; she knew that if she tried to force a stronger opponent back down, he could simply reverse his direction of motion and use her own momentum to bring her down. So she abruptly relaxed the hold of her left hand on his wrist and removed her sword. As expected, the male samurai straightened his back. Heihachi immediately reached around his right ear with her sword.

Before Shichiroji could get off his knees and turn to face the warrior behind him, he felt the cold blade of Heihachi's sword against his throat. "I win!" the female samurai declared. "Drop your weapon!"

Obediently, the blond dropped his spear and raised his hands in surrender. Heihachi smiled triumphantly. Then, before she realized it, Shichiroji had grabbed her sword hand with his raised right hand, and the crook of her elbow with his left. With a twist of his shoulders, he threw her forward. Heihachi flew over Shichiroji. As the female samurai landed hard on her back, she lost her hold on her sword.

Before the stunned Heihachi could sit up, Shichiroji was on top of her, straddling her hips. The mechanic samurai tried to grope around for her sword but it was out of reach.  
"Is this part of the training?" she asked, surprised. "You cheated! If it had been for real, I would have slit your throat earlier!"

"Most unarmed fights end up on the ground," the blond samurai responded matter-of-factly, "And many women are unprepared for such close encounters because unlike males, they did not spend much of their childhood playtime wrestling and roughhousing."

"Your first priority is to protect your control center- you head!" Shichiroji ordered.

Heihachi threw her arms over her head as her sparring partner rained mock punches on her face and body.

"That's right," he said. "You're doing a good job. Now throw me off!"

The flame-haired samurai writhed and bucked under him. "I can't! You're too heavy!" she panted. But she did not stop trying.

"Thrust your hips up as you turn on your side and push me away with your arms. That would throw me off!" the other samurai commanded. "You can do it!"

Just then, Kirara walked by on the forest path. The priestess stared at Shichiroji sitting astride a struggling Heihachi, then she raised her eyebrows. Shichiroji blushed when he met Kirara's eye, then he quickly got off the samurai woman. The mechanic sat up in the grass. The peasant woman gave the two samurai a conspiratorial look before turning to go her way.  
"It's not what you think it is!" Heihachi called out after Kirara. "We were just practicing combat techniques!"

The two samurai stared at the peasant girl's departing figure, then they turned to look at each other almost shyly.

"Ground fighting is something you need to work on, but I think I probably should not be the one you practice with," Shichiroji said quietly. "Maybe you can ask the other samurai woman to be your practice partner."

"She's not in Kanna anymore," Heihachi replied. "I saw Kyuuzou leave some days ago."

"Oh?" Shichiroji said.

"She went to follow Kanbei," the mechanic stated.

"She did?" the aide responded. "How come I'm not surprised?"

"She loves him, but I don't think he knows." Heihachi said softly. "I don't think she knows it herself, either."

Shichiroji was grateful for the change in topic. Talking about someone else's affairs of the heart was better than thinking about his own newly awakened desires.


	9. Hands

Keepsakes  
Chapter 9: Hands  
-------------------------  
Author: Jun-I

* * *

Shichiroji and Heihachi worked with the peasants on reconstructing Kanna while they waited for Kanbei's return. Although the battle was won and there were no more Nobuseri left, Shichiroji had a strange sense of foreboding. He told the peasants that they would have to continue with sentry duty for the foreseeable future.

Now the aide and the mechanic had another problem on their hands – instead of focusing their energies on reconstruction, Kikuchiyo and Katsushiro were distracted by the idea of following Kanbei to the Capital. At last, the two older samurai decided to let the young hotheads go instead of trying to restrain them. It was a fine morning when Shichiroji and Heihachi sent their friends off with some rice balls. Then they returned to their respective reconstruction teams. The redhead and the blond met again later in the evening when they shared a sentry shift.

They stood together in silence behind the barricade on the bluff overlooking the valley. It was a warm, clear night. The wind was mild and there was a sense of peace in the air, yet both the samurai had a feeling that the village's troubles were not quite over. They did not mention this feeling to each other.

"Do you think we did the right thing by letting them go to the Capital?" Heihachi asked her friend.

"I don't know," the blond replied. "Only time will tell."

Two hours later, Yohei and Mosuke came to replace Shichiroji and Heihachi on sentry duty. The two warriors climbed up the hill as they headed back towards the village.

"The sky looks so peaceful," the young samurai man said as he reached the top of the hill and stared up at the sky. He remembered less peaceful times when the night sky was lit red with the firepower of a thousand flying mecha warriors.

"Yes, the stars are beautiful," the samurai maiden replied as she climbed up behind him, "I wish I learned astrology so I could read what the stars have to tell us. Sometimes I wish I know what the future would bring."

Then they both fell into silence as they stared at the night sky. After a few moments, Heihachi broke the silence, "I probably should not say this, but I agree with Katsushiro and Kikuchiyo. It is unwise of Kanbei-sama to try to rescue Sanae alone. To infiltrate a heavily-guarded palace and get a group of kidnapped women out unnoticed is near impossible! I know he does not want any more of us to die after we lost Gorobei, but would it do anyone any good if we lose him too? At the very least, Kanbei-sama should have taken you and Kyuuzou with him."

Shichiroji put a reassuring hand on the redhead's shoulder. "Don't worry," the male samurai said, "I have followed Kanbei for many years. He is a very resourceful warrior, and I'm sure he knows what he's doing. The odds are he will soon return with Sanae."

Heihachi felt a little guilty for bringing the attention of her cheerful companion to this grim subject which was beyond their control and did no one any good to discuss. She decided to change the topic.

"Shichiroji," she began, "Gorobei-dono said you know how to tell fortunes, is that true?"

"Oh, I did learn palm-reading from an old lady at the House of the Fireflies," the blond said, "But I don't take it too seriously. It's just something I do to amuse the guests."

"Well, will you amuse me then?" Heihachi gave him a toothy smile.

"Gladly," the handsome young man smiled back. "Take a seat", he patted the ground next to him as he sat down on the hill top.

"Left hand or right hand?" she asked as she sat down beside him.

"Right hand for women," he replied. And then he leaned over and took the glove off her left hand.

"You jerk!" Heihachi scolded Shichiroji as he held her left hand. She reached out to smack the blond man playfully with her other hand. Shichiroji let her hit him lightly. They laughed together for a moment, and then the samurai man said, "All right, give me your right hand."

Heihachi removed her right glove and placed her right hand in Shichi's palms. He peered down into the mechanic's callused palm in the light of the oil lamp. Heihachi's hands were so different from Yukino's soft hands. The samurai started looking at the first line, the heart line. "You have a good heart. You care a lot for other people," he said.

"Oh, I guess that may or may not be true," she shrugged, "Can you read more?"

He looked at the next line, the head line. "You are very intelligent," he said.

The samurai mechanic blushed. "You're flattering me," she said as she glanced at Shichiroji.

"No," he responded seriously, "I'm just going by the lines."

"But all you've read so far is about the present." the flame-haired maiden remarked, "What can you read about the future?"

Shichiroji looked at the third line. The life line on Heihachi's palm was rather short. In fact, very short. The man said nothing. He never believed in superstitions anyway. He moved on to reading another part of her hand.

"Clench your fist," he said. She complied instantly. He squeezed the flesh at the base of her palm.

"What are you looking at?" Heihachi asked curiously, "What can you see?"

"I don't see any children in your future," the young man replied honestly. "But don't take this palmistry stuff seriously. They say sometimes the lines change as people change. And I myself don't believe this superstitious rubbish."

If Heihachi was upset by his prediction, she did not show it. "Well, no children?" she grinned as she shrugged again. "I'm not surprised. No man would want to marry me anyway."

"Why do you think so?" Shichiroji asked, surprised.

"I mean, look at me. I'm not very attractive, am I?"

The sky and the earth seemed to swirl together when blue eyes met obsidian orbs for a long moment.

That was when he leaned over and kissed her. It felt right to him. Before Heihachi realized it, she was kissing the other samurai back. Their kiss grew deeper. Then they both drew back and stared at each other in astonishment. Shichiroji felt himself flush. Heihachi's oval face had also turned bright red.

Shichiroji hesitated only a moment before wrapping his arms around Heihachi and lowering her onto the ground. He held her down as she gazed up at him with widened eyes. But the samurai maiden did not resist. The young man ran his mechanized left hand through her red hair while his right arm remained coiled around her waist. Shichiroji had rarely wished he had sensation in his left hand, but now he wished he did.

But as he bent down to kiss her again, the samurai mechanic put her fingers against his lips.

"We should not do this. You already have a woman waiting for you at home."

Shichiroji paused. Then he said, "Yukino and I are not promised to each other. She told me I am free to go anytime. As for me, I have never prohibited her from taking other men."

"And did she take other men after you came to the House of the Fireflies?" Heihachi looked up at him questioningly with round black eyes.

"No, she did not," he replied hesitantly.

"Because she only has eyes for you." Heihachi sighed. "And on your part, you still feel bound to her. By your own sense of obligation. Even now, I see guilt in your eyes."

Shichiroji tore his blue eyes away from Heihachi's frank gaze. But he did not let go of the mechanic.

"Even though I have only met Yukino briefly, I can tell she is very much attached to you," the flame-haired samurai said straightforwardly, "Do you have her open consent to take a lover while you are away from her?"

"No," he admitted.

"Would it grieve her if she knew you did?"

"I don't know," he sighed. "Or perhaps I don't want to know."

His metal fingers clenched in the tomboy's orange-red hair.

"There are many people who can betray someone and never feel the slightest twinge of remorse," the female mechanic said even as she reached up to caress his pale cheek with her callused hand. "But you're not one of those people. If we go through with this, your guilt will haunt you. We should not do this. Not just for her sake. But for yours."

The samurai woman knew the torment of living with the memory of betrayal – betrayal committed by oneself. She did not wish the same for Shichiroji.

Shichiroji finally took his hands off Heihachi. He sat up, facing away from her. "How could something that felt so right end up being so wrong?" he wondered.

Then he asked her hesitantly, "If I did have Yukino's permission, would you let me embrace you?"

"Perhaps if you meant less to me, I would not mind sharing pleasure with a friend for a brief time before going our separate ways," the redhead sighed as she sat up on the grass, "But you already mean more to me than you should. I don't want to feel like something you just play with for a while and discard later when you go back to another woman."

Now Shichiroji felt guilt – not just towards one woman, but towards two. He sat there in silence. The young man had no words left to say.

Heihachi got to her feet. "I think I've already said too much," she spoke in an amiable tone. "Come, now. Let's forget about everything that happened earlier and go back to the house. We need our sleep. There is a day of work ahead of us tomorrow."

They laid down to rest in the samurai's shared bedchamber in Rikichi's house. Although the two samurai lay on opposite sides of the room, Shichiroji could barely sleep with Heihachi in the same space. He wished that Katsushiro and Kikuchiyo were there with them.

Heihachi must have read his thoughts. He heard her voice in the darkness. "Tomorrow, I'll ask Kirara's grandmother if I can go sleep at her house. Please don't think it is because of you. I, and I alone, am responsible for any odd feelings I might hold."


	10. Triangle

Heihachi had moved to the priestess' house for about a week. But Shichiroji still did not sleep too well at night. Every time he closed his eyes, he dreamt of the redheaded samurai. Then a letter came to Shichiroji by turtle courier. It was from the House of the Fireflies. When the blond samurai saw Yukino's familiar handwriting on the envelope, he felt a pang of guilt once again. Shichiroji opened the envelope. Inside was a message from Yukino, followed by a footnote written by Kanbei.

The aide summoned both Rikichi and Heihachi. To the peasant, he said, "I just received a letter from Yukino and Kanbei. Your wife has been released. She is now in the House of the Fireflies!"

The farmer was overjoyed. "Thank you so much!!!" he said as he bowed before the samurai.

"Don't thank me," Shichiroji said. "I did nothing. It was the work of Kanbei." Yukino had also written some other things in the letter, things that Shichiroji did not know how to tell Rikichi, that is, if he should tell Rikichi at all.

Heihachi noticed that while the blond man smiled with the happy farmer, his blue eyes were not smiling. She looked at the other samurai questioningly.

Shichiroji said to Heihachi, "As soon as we are ready, we can head back to Kougakyo. Kikuchiyo, Kirara, Komachi and Katsushiro are safe. They are with Kanbei in the House of the Fireflies. Our leader awaits our arrival. He says that we may have more work to do."

The samurai woman replied, "I have repaired one of the Yakans we captured. It can fly us to Shikimori territory. Fitting three people in a Yakan might be somewhat of a challenge, but I think we will manage. After all, the Yakan was designed to be piloted by people far bulkier than you or I."

--

It was a very tight squeeze - 3 people in a Yakan. Even so, both Shichiroji and Heihachi were glad that Rikichi was there with them. After what happened under the stars the other night, Shichiroji was not so sure if he could behave honorably towards the samurai maiden if he was left alone with her.

It was a relief when they got to the land of the Shikimori where they had left Yukino's boat. They found the watercraft exactly where they had left it. The Shikimori people were honorable folk.

Heihachi felt a certain awkwardness about riding in Yukino's boat. The innkeeper had been nothing but kind to her. In an odd way, the mechanic felt guilty for 'stealing' the affections of Yukino's man. The samurai wondered if she encouraged Shichiroji's attentions by behaving inappropriately, but now it was too late for regrets. Besides, nothing really happened, she told herself.

Still, the female mechanic said to Rikichi and Shichiroji, "Let us harness the boat to the Yakan. The Yakan has a maximum speed faster than the boat's. I can use the Yakan to tow the boat. We will travel faster that way."

"That is just as well," Shichiroji thought. For the rest of the trip of Kougakyo, the two samurai would not have to face each other if Heihachi was in the Yakan and Shichiroji was in the boat.

--

When Shichiroji returned to the House of the Fireflies with Rikichi and Heihachi, Yukino welcomed him warmly. The blond samurai immediately applied himself to being the considerate partner, offering to help Yukino take the trash out right after he stepped off the boat. Now on thinking back, the innkeeper realized Shichiroji had been 'too nice', as if he was trying to compensate for something.

Glad as the blue-eyed samurai was to see her, Yukino gradually noticed that he was not quite the same man who left. Shichiroji seemed to have grown distant, as if there was something else – or someone else - on his mind.

The hotel manager had not thought much of it then. All of the samurai had become more grave since the last time she saw them – from the serious Kanbei down to the usually boisterous Kikuchiyo. First, there was the death of Gorobei, a personal loss the samurai still had not had the time to mourn fully. Then, they all witnessed the tragedy of Sanae and Rikichi, which brought a bitter aftertaste to the victory of Kanna. Even the once ebullient samurai maiden Heihachi had become reserved.

--

Heihachi arrived at the House of the Fireflies to find that Kyuuzou, too, had joined Kanbei there. Their leader seemed a little happier whenever he rested his eyes on the lady in red. Kyuuzou never returned his glances though. At least not when he was looking. "Well, I hope those two will have better luck in love than I have," the mechanic thought.

As far as was possible, Heihachi avoided contact with Shichiroji and Yukino while at the House of the Fireflies. The few times, when she caught a glance of the well-matched, easy-going couple working together on the daily running of the inn, the redhead felt a twinge of sadness and guilt. The mechanic threw herself into putting a higher-powered engine into the boat while anxiously waiting for Kanbei's orders to set out in pursuit of the Capital. If they win the next battle, Kanbei's samurai team could disband and Heihachi would never have to see Shichiroji again. The mechanic could then forget that man and move on with her life. Heihachi looked forward to that day.

--

The day of their scheduled departure, Heihachi had finished upgrading the boat so that it could move faster. She remained at the boat landing, working on tuning the Yakan while Kanbei and Kikuchiyo were loading supplies for their journey onto Yukino's boat. "Will we be done before morning has passed?" Kanbei asked the two samurai.

At that moment, Ayamaro approached the party with teapot in hand.

"What do you want?" Kikuchiyo asked brusquely. "Are you trying to help? I bet you merchants have never carried such a heavy load."

Ayamaro ignored the question. Instead, the former governor said, "Are you really planning to challenge Ukyo?"

"Of course," Kanbei replied rather matter-of-factly.

"You have defeated the Nobuseri, so you do have a chance at victory," said the portly merchant. "But I advise you not to underestimate Ukyo."

Heihachi popped her head out of the Yakan and fixed her dark eyes on Ayamaro, "Well-meaning advice is not always pleasant to hear," she smiled wryly.

"Ah, there are barbs in your words," Ayamaro answered the samurai maiden.

The redheaded woman turned her face away from the fat blond and addressed Kanbei instead. "Kanbei-dono, do you really believe this person?"

The dark man answered her question with a question, "And do you not trust him?"

"Hey, hey," Kikuchiyo piped up, wagging his metal finger. "Why are you going at this issue again?

"If Kanbei-sama trusts him, I will trust him too," the smiling maiden said in a placating voice. "Even if he is a wealthy merchant of the city."

Kanbei glanced at the redheaded samurai. There was something deceptively sweet about Heihachi's tone, as if she was hiding the feelings she held inside.

"Yes, it is I who started the city-wide sweep of samurai and hunted you," Ayamaro admitted. "I don't blame you for not trusting me, but I will swear to you on the spot I am not taking sides in this matter. I barely managed to escape with my life, and have no wish to throw it away so quickly."

Just then, Kyuuzou walked up to them. "Kyuuzou," Ayamaro addressed the lady in red, "Would you consider working for my establishment again?"

The scarlet samurai shot him an odd look. Ayamaro knew the answer was 'no."

Heihachi took in this wordless exchange. The other samurai woman would never return to Ayamaro's service. She had already found the man she would follow for the rest of her life, whether she would admit it or not. Heihachi almost envied Kyuuzou. "Strange," the mechanic maiden thought. "I would not even have thought of wanting something like that, not before Shichiroji."

Kanbei's voice interrupted the tomboy's train of thought. "Heihachi," the commander asked, "Is your work almost done?"

"Yes, sir," the warrior maiden replied.

"I would like to have a talk with you after you're done with your tasks," the older samurai said.

--

An hour later, Heihachi and Kanbei were walking along the river bank, out of the earshot of Kikuchiyo.

"A penny for your thoughts," the leader said, "There seems to be something weighing on your mind, and I would like to resolve any concerns you may have about our upcoming battle before we leave."

"Well…" the mechanic samurai answered, "Before I met you, I had never struck down anyone with a sword… but I had killed before."

"Was it through a betrayal?" the long-haired ronin asked straightforwardly.

"How did he guess?" the warrior mechanic wondered. "Does nothing escape your all-seeing eyes?" the fair-skinned maiden asked Kanbei.

"Perhaps the reason you are so stern towards others is because you cannot forgive your own past?" the tall man ventured.

"Yes," the short samurai sighed, "I was too weak then. I gave away the plans of my unit. As a result, my entire company was exterminated. It was a foolish thing I did. All these years, I was constantly haunted by the thought of how to make things up to those who died because of me. Perhaps I agreed to help Kanna because I hoped to somehow redeem myself."

"If this is how you feel," Kanbei said, "Then finish this mission together with me."

"Kanbei-sama," Heihachi responded, "You never needed to make this request. I have never considered leaving the team before our work is done."

"This is good to know," the aging warrior replied, "I asked because I sensed that your mood had changed since the time I last saw you. I could be wrong, but I feel as if you have withdrawn yourself from the team. I was concerned that you might wish to leave us."

"I have no intention of leaving you before our mission is accomplished," the female samurai answered with a sad smile. Kanbei, despite his sharpness, had no idea of what had passed between her and Shichiroji, that was clear by now. The warrior woman was relieved. She spoke once more. "If killing in battle could remake me, then I would perform as many killings as it would take."

"I will be very grateful to you," Kanbei said gravely.

"The trust you bear towards others had once made me feel uneasy," Heihachi spoke. "At first I was shocked at how you pardoned traitors. But what I feel now is only deep admiration. If only I've met someone like you earlier."

"You think too highly of me," the dark-haired man replied with a hint of sorrow.

At that moment, the rest of their party, peasant and samurai, had congregated at the boat landing. Masamune was with them.

"O-samurai-sama," Rikichi said as he walked up to Kanbei and prostrated himself, "I beg you to destroy the capital."

Kanbei knelt down so he could look the farmer in the eye. "That is what we are planning to do, even if you had not asked." Rikichi bowed his head to the ground in gratitude.

As both men rose to their feet and prepared to board the boat, Yukino bade farewell to Shichiroji. "Take care on the journey," she said cheerily as she tapped his chest lightly. Heihachi was leaning against her Yakan, watching them. Witnessing the intimate gesture pained her.

Shichiroji answered Yukino in an easy tone, "I had gone through an arduous journey to return to you, and you're sending me off so light-heartedly?"

"Well, it is because you did not bring me any gift." The black-haired beauty pouted.

"Ah…. " the blond grinned sheepishly as he gazed into his lover's dark eyes..

"Look at those two flirting away!" Kikuchiyo called out. Komachi joined in the teasing. "They're such lovebirds!"

Heihachi laughed together with all present, but her laughter could not wash away the inexplicable and sudden sadness sweeping through her soul. She turned her face away from the happy couple. That was when she saw Kirara standing behind a tree, watching Kanbei rather furtively. There was no mistaking the look of hopeless adoration in the peasant girl's eyes. Kanbei, Heihachi observed, was deliberately avoiding eye contact with Kirara. At that moment, Yukino made her way over to the young farm girl and whispered something in her ear, something Heihachi was too far away to hear. She could only guess it was love advice from the older woman.

The mechanic sighed. So she was not the only one who desired something that was forbidden to her. She tied the Yakan to the rear of the boat and climbed in. Moments later, Shichiroji boarded the boat, after everyone else was on board. He started the engine. They were on their way to Kanna, and whatever else the future might bring.


	11. Better Left Unsaid

During a quick stopover in Shikimori Land, the samurai left Yukino's boat for a war surplus land cruiser loaned to them by the Shikimori people. Shichiroji piloted the military vehicle while Heihachi kept herself unobtrusively out of sight at the back of the vessel.

On the route to Kanna, the 5 samurai and 4 peasants came across a patch of strange fruit-bearing plants in the desert. They stopped the land cruiser and got out to see if there was any sustenance to be found in this strange oasis. But the large round fruit they saw had thorny shells and did not look edible. Yet Kikuchiyo insisted that this could be an important source of nutrition. "We used to grow it in my village," the mecha said. "They're called 'stink buns'."

He took one of the fruit, broke its shell open and began feasting on its yellow flesh. Heihachi followed suit. The young woman cracked the thorny shell open and got a whiff of the fruit's pungent aroma. There was something strangely bitter and almost alcoholic in the scent but she boldly took a bite of the fruit's soft flesh. It was almost creamy and melted in her mouth. Shichiroji made a face at the smell, but Heihachi said to him, "Try it, it isn't bad!"

"It stinks!" Kyuuzou complained as she turned her face away from the 'stink buns'. Then all of a sudden, she ran from the scene. In a flash, Kanbei was running after her, Shichiroji was running after Kanbei and Heihachi was running after Shichiroji.

They soon came upon the sight that had gotten Kyuuzou's attention. In a nearby sandpit lay the wreckage of two giant Nobuseri. Where had they come from? Heihachi approached a piece of mecha debris and started examining it cautiously. "It seems like they had been hit by main artillery," she concluded after a moment of contemplation. The dead robots were apparently victims of the Capital's awesome firepower.

"Is there anything we could salvage?" Kanbei asked, surveying the pieces of broken mecha lying around them in the desert. In response to the commander's question, Kikuchiyo dug something out of the sand - a giant mechanized sword used by the Nobuseri. But, when detached from the robot, it could also be piloted by a human driver.

The blade did not seem to be running too well but Kanbei had the idea of using the sword to fly them to the Capital. It would run faster than the land cruiser.

After a cursory examination, Heihachi said she could get the giant sword to fly again. She started work on repairing the cutter, but before long, the sound of Komachi crying interrupted her concentration.

"Kikuchiyo is going to die!" the child sobbed.

In response, the robot promise that the girl he would never leave her. At that, Komachi declared that she would marry him when she grew up. The amused robot laughed and warned the child, "My appetite is very good."

"I like you very much. I'll feed you."

"I'm so touched." Kikuchiyo wept his robot tears, "Am I such a good person?"

"Yes you are." The little girl declared without hesitation.

"I'm the happiest person in the world!" The new fiancé declared as he put Komachi on his shoulders and spun around with joy.

Heihachi peered down at the mismatched couple from her perch on the giant sword. She smiled a small, sad smile. "At least someone else might get to live happily ever after with someone they love," she thought. The female samurai silently wished them well. Then she turned back to her work.

--

The desert night was cold. The samurai and peasants lit two fires. One for the men and one for the women. Shichiroji and Kanbei were sitting around one fire, poring over the blueprint of the Capital. Kirara and Komachi were gathered around the other fire. Heihachi was still sitting above in the cockpit of the Nobuseri's pilotable sword, tinkering away in the light of the flickering fires.

Kanbei raised his eyes towards Kyuuzou. The warrior woman was sitting alone on a rock some distance away from the group. "Have you been to the Capital?" he asked the lady dressed in scarlet.

"Yes, once, with Lord Ayamaro," the red samurai replied.

"Are its offensive capabilities the same as they were during the Great War?" Kanbei asked.

"Yes," the slim blonde replied without turning to look at him.

Kanbei wondered out loud as he looked down at the plans for the Capital. "How should we handle the main engine?"

Heihachi piped up from above, "We have to shut it off. If we simply blow it up and let it fall to the ground, then the surrounding earth will die from the pollution."

Shichiroji looked up at the mechanic. He said, "That is to say, there would be no earth on which to grow the rice that you love so well."

"It is as you say," she replied in a near-comic tone, "So, for the sake of rice, we'll have to do our very best!"

As always, the maiden cared for others. She was a warrior with a heart. "If only all samurai during the Great War were that way," the blond samurai sighed to himself. He regretted they had not met earlier.

"We'll leave the main engine room to Heihachi then," Shichiroji said to Kanbei. At that moment, Kirara approached the two men bearing a tray with two teacups. She knelt down silently beside them. Shichiroji took a cup of tea from the peasant and turned once more to Kanbei. "Do you have any plans?"

"No," his friend said abruptly. Shichiroji and Heihachi gasped simultaneously. But a moment later, the redhead realized the veiled meaning behind Kanbei's "no" – it was a refusal of Kirara's love. The samurai woman noticed that Kanbei made no move to take the teacup from Kirara's hand. Faced with his inertia, the peasant girl had to set the teacup on the flat rock before Kanbei.

The man Shichiroji did not have the same intuitive sense as Heihachi. He took his friend's word at face value. The aide addressed Kanbei, "No???"

Kanbei replied, "This time, we may be going to our deaths."

Shichiroji and Heihachi almost instinctively looked towards each other. For a long moment, Shichiroji held the maiden's gaze. Then the mechanic turned her face from him and went back to her work.

She heard Kanbei's voice again. The dark man was speaking to Kirara, "It is late, go take a rest."

"So he is dismissing her as gently as he can," Heihachi surmised.

The young farm girl replied, "Do not worry. I am at your service."

"So she is unfazed by his refusal and is still trying to reach him." Heihachi guessed. "Well, she is brave and persistent."

"She is a good child," Shichiroji commented as he watched Kirara's departing figure.

"Indeed she is a good child. I guess Ukyo did have good taste to take a fancy to her," Heihachi sighed. Being a good girl did not guarantee luck in love, that was clear by now. Kanbei looked down at the cup of tea made by Kirara, then he cast his eyes on Kyuuzou, sitting silently with her back towards him.

No more words were exchanged on the matter. All three samurai turned their attention back to their work. At long last, the mechanic called down to the commander, "I'm finished."

"Thank you. You've worked hard," Kanbei replied kindly. "But before you rest, can you briefly familiarize Shichiroji with the controls? He will be flying us to the Capital tomorrow."

Shichiroji climbed into the cockpit of the giant sword and sat down beside Heihachi. She shifted slightly to make more room for him. Then the mechanic gestured at the controls and said in a businesslike tone, "I guess these are not unfamiliar to you. You used to fly a similar model during the Great War, right?

She went over the different controls in the cockpit in fair detail. Finally she asked, "Any questions?"

"No," Shichiroji replied, "It's 90 percent similar to the flying cannon I piloted during the war."

The mechanic said, "Then I'm going down to get some sleep. Feel free to stay up here for as long as you want and familiarize yourself with the control panel."

The redhead rose from her seat. That was when Shichiroji seized her by the hand. The female warrior looked down at him, almost surprised. But she did not pull away.

"In case I die tomorrow, there is something I need to tell you," the blond samurai spoke urgently.

The samurai maiden gazed at him with large sad eyes.

"I wish, I really wish … that I had met you a long, long time ago." Shichiroji said as he looked into her dark, liquid eyes. "I want you to know that even if we can never be together, I will always love you."

Heihachi bit her lip. "So, this is his 'goodbye' before he goes back to the woman waiting for him," she thought. But she would not have things any other way.

The blond samurai continued speaking earnestly. "You are kind, beautiful and special. You deserve all the happiness in the world. I hope you find it."

"It would be better if he had not spoken at all!" Heihachi thought as her tears fell inside. But the tomboy smiled her usual broad, cheery smile at the young man. "I wish you all the happiness that this life has to offer," she answered.

The samurai woman took both Shichiroji's hands in her own and held them for a long moment. Finally, she let go of the other warrior and said, "Tomorrow will come and go. Everything will work itself out, ne."

The petite mechanic climbed out of the cockpit and jumped to the ground. Without a backward glance at the giant sword, she headed over to the fire around which the other women were huddled in sleep.


	12. Loss

Kikuchiyo, Kanbei, Kyuuzou and Shichiroji had fought their way into the belly of the beast known as the Capital. As the company of Mimizuku closed in around them, Shichiroji saw a flash of dark clothing at the door. Katsushiro ran into the room and threw himself on the first mecha he saw. The boy cut down the metal warrior, but another robot promptly knocked him to the ground and closed in for the kill. Alarmed, the blond was about to go to the child's aid but Kanbei had acted first, swiftly crossing the room to intercept the mecha about to kill Katsushiro. Shichiroji watched his leader dispatch the robot warrior with a quick slash from his sword.

But now Kanbei was caught between two mecha pointing their guns at him. Shichiroji rushed forward and threw his spear through one of them. Kyuuzou was dashing towards the other mecha . But before the woman could reach the robot, Shichiroji saw the robot fall, followed by Kyuuzou. He stared in shock. Then the blond samurai noticed a trembling Katsushiro holding a smoking gun.

"Kyuuzou!" Kanbei shouted as he caught the falling woman in his arms. Her crimson blood stained his white glove. Shichiroji did not know who he felt more sorry for – the child who had unknowingly killed the warrior goddess he worshipped, or the man watching the woman he loved die in a pointless accident while trying to save him.

Then he decided he felt more sorry for Kanbei. Unlike the boy, the commander did not have the luxury of giving any room to his emotions. The white-clad warrior gently passed his hand over Kyuuzou's dead, staring eyes, closing them. Then Kanbei stood up briskly and said to the child, "You did well."

Shichiroji could only imagine what unspeakable pain was raging through his friend's soul even as he said those calm words.

"But I… I killed Kyuuzou-dono with these very hands!" Katsushiro stuttered. "I… should make recompense with my life..."

"You had to do what you did to save me." The commander stated matter-of-factly. "It's just a matter of who goes first. You live for a little longer. You're more useful alive than dead."

Shichiroji addressed the boy, "How did you get here?"

"Heihachi-dono brought me here."

The blond looked around the room. The redhead was nowhere in sight. He asked Katsushiro, "Where is she now?"

"She… she was hit by artillery… in the main engine room." came the tearful reply.

Now it was Shichiroji's turn to feel unspeakable pain. It was his idea to send Heihachi to the main engine room. But the aide said nothing. Instead, it was Kikuchiyo who said the words that Katsushiro did not want to say and Shichiroji did not want to hear.

"She's dead!!?"

The only answer was a shuddering explosion ripping through the floor a few meters from where they stood.

Kikuchiyo continued to cry out in a loud voice, "Heihachi too? How… how could this be?"

Shichiroji's lip quivered.

"This is how things are on the battlefield." Kanbei declared firmly, "Enough talk! We'll be dead soon enough! But someone still has to take Ukyo's head."

The dark man picked up the sword of his fallen beloved. Then he led the surviving samurai into battle. Shichiroji followed after him resolutely. He would win this war, if only so that Heihachi would not have died in vain.


	13. Farewell

With the help of the clever Kikuchiyo and his keen sense of smell, Shichiroji, Kanbei and and Katsushiro found the launching pad where the emperor's personal flying sedan was parked. They slashed through the ranks of mecha warriors guarding the chamber.

As luck would have it, the sedan was still there, which meant Ukyo had not yet escaped from the floundering ship. The aide, the robot and the child quickly hid themselves on the roof beams while Kanbei took position just outside the hatch which opened to the exterior.

Sure enough, it was not long before Ukyo showed up with an imperial minister and his mecha bodyguards.

"Who has done this?" The new arrivals cried out in alarm as they saw the dead mecha strewn all over the room. It was then the three samurai ambushed them, leaping out of the dark recesses of the chamber. Shichiroji sliced the mecha bodyguards into pieces while Katsushiro charged right at Ukyo. He would have gladly slain the evil tyrant who caused his beloved Kirara so much grief, but Ukyo threw the minister in front of him. The boy's sword cleaved the emperor's lackey in half as Ukyo turned and fled.

But the emperor had not taken more than three steps when he found his way blocked by an angry Kikuchiyo. Shichiroji eyed the tyrant coldly as the white-faced youth tried to talk his way out of being chopped into pieces by the righteously angry robot. The experienced samurai could hear more mecha entering the room but he knew they would not dare to act as long as the samurai had Ukyo as hostage.

Kikuchiyo was undeterred by Ukyo's reinforcements. He brought his sword down. That was when Shichiroji heard the sound of gunfire from an automatic weapon. He saw Kikuchiyo fall. The emperor had seized a gun from the floor as he made a show of cowering and cringing before the samurai.

"That cunning, self-preserving bastard!" Shichiroji barely had time to finish his thought before he heard the robots behind him open fire. The blond rolled out of the way, but not before a bullet tore through his arm. He lost his hold on his spear. Immediately, the mecha warriors surrounded Shichiroji, taking him hostage.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Katsushiro had been similarly subdued. The aide could only watch helplessly as the coward of an emperor discharged the remaining bullets in the automatic firearm into a fallen Kikuchiyo. Once out of bullets, Ukyo launched into a screaming fit as he hit Kikuchiyo's head over and over with the empty gun.

Shichiroji looked on with revulsion at this worthless, exploitative madman unchecked in his violent impulses. Ukyo turned his attention to Katsushiro. "Where is Kanbei?" he demanded. The samurai boy defiantly refused to answer. In response, the emperor walked over to Shichiroji and stomped on his wounded arm. Shichiroji screamed in agony.

"Leave him alone!" Katsushiro yelled, only to be silenced by the mecha holding him hostage. So Ukyo's plan was to keep torturing him until Katsushiro talked. The blond wondered if he was going to be able to hold out. He wondered if Kanbei, just outside the room, had a backup plan now that their initial course of action had been interrupted. Would it all end here?

"Heihachi," he silently whispered. "I will be with you soon."

It was then he heard her voice – somewhere in his mind. "Don't give up, beloved." Shichiroji's eyes opened wide. Then he heard his friend loud and clear again. "Fight on. For Kanna. Live on. For me."

It was then the exit hatch of the room opened. "Your Highness, let's leave!" the mecha spoke to Ukyo. Giant mecha were standing by, ready to carry the Amanushi to safety. But Ukyo was not quite done tormenting his captives.

"Where is Kirara?" the pale faced young man once again addressed Katsushiro. "If you persist in your course, Kanna will be destroyed." The emperor's foot pressed down on Shichiroji's wound. The blond gritted his teeth. But he would not give up. Not with Heihachi's spirit behind him.

Katsushiro's face turned paler at Shichiroji's agonized expression. But he refused to talk. Ukyo pointed a gun at the child. His finger tightened on the trigger. Shichiroji was waiting for the precise moment when the emperor's attention was fully occupied with Katsushiro to take Ukyo down with his other limbs. A trained soldier flat on his back was far from helpless. But he did not have to act.

The screams of giant mecha on the exit runway drew Ukyo's attention to the open hatch. Kanbei was there, holding the enemy at bay with Kyuuzou's sword.

The emperor's eyes widened as he screamed in disbelief. As the mecha holding Shichiroji hostage turned their attention to the new threat, the blond dived into a quick roll, picking up his weapon and distancing himself from his enemies at the same time. Before the mecha realized what was happening. Shichiroji's spear had cut through half a dozen of them. Katsushiro followed suit, picking up his sword and dispatching the remaining mecha with Shichiroji.

Alone amidst a room of dead robot soldiers, Ukyo screamed. The three samurai facing him closed in on the tyrant. This was the final reckoning.

--

The Capital was destroyed. Kanna was saved. The samurai had won. Or had they?

The peasants and surviving samurai searched for the three fallen warriors in the wreckage of the capital. Kikuchiyo's remains were the first to be recovered. Komachi and Kirara had already located what was left of him. His two feet.

Then the searchers found Kyuuzou. Everyone helped pull away the debris covering the body of the lady in red. But they all stood aside as Kanbei approached the crimson samurai, lifted her from the floor and bore her away in his arms. The not-quite-love-affair between Kanbei and Kyuuzou was an open secret. Everyone respected the commander's right to mourn the woman he loved in private.

Shichiroji watched the departing figure of his friend. Kanbei's proud shoulders were bent with sorrow. The willowy warrior lay limply in the tall man's arms. The aide sighed. Then he returned his attention to searching for the one person he most desperately wanted to find. But Rikichi and Sanae had already accomplished the task. First, they found Heihachi's weather doll. Then they located her lifeless form nearby, crushed under the rubble. Without bothering to inform Shichiroji, they enlisted the help of a few more peasants, extricated the redhead from the wreckage, and hauled her back to the village.

Shichiroji and Katsushiro were looking high and low around the fallen engine room of the Capital when Manzou came to inform them that the mechanic's body had already been found and taken to Kirara's house. By the time Shichiroji got there, the peasant women were dressing the female samurai's body for burial. He went to the room in which she lay and looked over the women's busy shoulders, trying to catch a glimpse of the red-headed girl. The farmwives shooed him out of the room. "No men allowed!" they said firmly.

Still Shichiroji lingered at the door, alone in his grief. "They would not even let me see her!" he clenched his fists in frustration.

Kirara had been in the room with the farmwives, but she now came out and stood next to the blond samurai. No words passed between them as she looked into his eyes with a sad understanding. Then the priestess returned to the room.

Some time later, the women emerged, carrying Heihachi's body on a crude litter. The dirt of the battlefield had been washed away and the bloody clothes replaced with clean garments. Shichiroji could hardly see the mechanic's face. So many women were crowding around her.

The young man followed after the procession of women as they headed towards the bluff behind the village. Then he felt someone come up behind him and take his hand. It was the priestess. Kirara pressed something into Shichiroji's palm, then she walked past him wordlessly and went ahead to join the rest of the women. The samurai looked down into his hand. He was holding a lock of orange-red hair, tied neatly with a dark blue string.

--

Shichiroji and Kanbei stood watching as the peasants cast the clods of earth over the bodies of the two female samurai.

"Women should not fight. It looks so sad and unnatural." Shichiroji said in a dull voice.

Kanbei knew his old friend did not mean what he said. They had both fought with and against female samurai during the Great War, and neither of them had shed more tears when women died than when men died.

Shichiroji really meant to say something else, Kanbei surmised. Something that could not be said out loud. But Kanbei did not know exactly what his old friend was thinking at that moment. Instead, Shimada replied. "If these two women had not fought, we would both be dead and Kanna would not be standing now."

There were other things that Kanbei himself wanted to say. But those words were meant for Kyuuzou's ears alone.

Rikichi had reattached the weather doll to Heihachi's sword. Then, after the last clod of dirt had been cast over the grave of the mechanic, the peasant stuck the sword into the earth over the place where Heihachi now rested.

Months later, Shichiroji came to visit his comrades' graves the night before he left Kanna. "Goodbye!" he said to the four. "The reconstruction of Kanna is complete. Winter has come and gone, and spring is just over. And now rice planting season begins. All is well in Kanna. Kanbei and I leave tomorrow. Our work is done, thanks to you."

He turned his back and was about to go when something called him back. He looked back at the grave of the tomboy mechanic, at the round-handled sword sticking out of it. Then he strode up to it resolutely and removed the weather doll from the sword's pommel.

"Farewell, Heihachi," he whispered. "I hope you do not mind me keeping this until we meet again. When I hold it, I will think that I am holding your hand."


	14. Remembrance

_Companion poem to Keepsakes. It can be sung to Yukino's theme in the soundtrack._

* * *

Remember me  
Will you remember me?  
Remember you. I will

Follow me  
Will you follow me  
To the end of the world?

So it did seem  
That once we had been  
In a dream within a dream

Holding your hand  
It feels the love we share  
Could stand forever.


End file.
